Ranma GX
by Zane the Artist
Summary: With the power of the Dark Duel Spirits reawakened, Jaden must call upon the power of a new hero, one who must be not only a master of cards, but of combat as well! Brace yourselves, GX, for Ranma Saotome and the NWC!
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: The Calm before the Storm

It was a bright and sunny day at Duel Academy. Jaden had just returned from the world of Duel Monsters, he acquired a new duel spirit named Yubel, and for once, it didn't look like the peace and calm of the world was about to be torn in half like wet tissue paper by a megalomaniac bent on universal conquest. But that would make this fanfic boring, so don't expect this peace to last for eternity. Or the next five minutes.

_Insert Theme Music!_

_DumDum, Da! DumDum, Da! DumDum, Dum, Dum, Da!_

_Sing! this world of wonder,_

_Dance! won't be torn asunder,_

_Laugh! this party will not eh-eh-end!_

_Fight! this golden promise,_

_Win! will not be severed,_

_Cheer! this storm will not blow us-a-way!_

_DumDum Da! _

_We will fight! We will stand! We won't be blown-a-way!_

_We will duel! We will win! And we'll save-the-day!_

_The sky's! the limit, now-let's-go,_

_And fight! to save this world-we-know!_

_And we will never lose to the ev-il-no!_

_DumDumDa! DumDumDa! DumDum, Dum-Dum-DA!_

_And End Theme Music!_

(_Be sure to mentally sing this theme song _

_ before every chapter 'cause I'm never typing _

_ this again_!)

Returning to the story, Jaden was resting on the red dorm's roof, when a cold breeze woke him up. He looked to his right, and a transparent Yubel looked distressed.

"That was an ominous wind, Jaden," she said, "It gives me the feeling something bad will come soon."

"Please," Jaden said looking calm, "It was just a slight breeze. The weatherman even said that there would be rain this afternoon. That was probably just the storm's warning to head inside soon." Yubel looked more reassured with that. She vanished, but Jaden's expression looked a bit serious now, "Yubel might be right, though. That was a strange wind. Something tells me we have more to worry about than a few raindrops."

Jaden fell back asleep, until Crowler yelled to him to reprimand him for missing class, waking him up and making him fall off the roof. "I hope this was what the bad feeling was about," he thought as he got chewed out by Crowler.

-Scene Shift to Nerima!-

"Ranma, you idiot!" Akane screamed as she threw Ranma out the window. This time Ranma was knocked through Akane's door in a fight with Ryoga, just while Akane was changing. Ranma landed gracefully on his feet, only to be splashed with water by an old woman who as watering her flowers.

Ranma-chan rushed back home and transformed back with a tea kettle, then headed elsewhere, only to be attacked by Mousse and Kuno. Apparently they hatched a plan to team up and get rid of Ranma, so Mousse could date Shampoo while Kuno could date the pigtailed girl, him not knowing she was actually Ranma-chan. Ranma could have handled them himself, but was saved by Shampoo and Koudachi, who called a temporary truce to save Ranma from Mousse and Kuno.

After dealing with the two idiots, Shampoo and Koudachi immediately started fighting right there in the street, while Ranma snuck away unharmed. To hide, he ducked into Ukyo's shop and grabbed a bite to eat before Ukyo joined in on the girl's fight and Ranma rushed home again.

This time, however, nothing happened. Happosai didn't attack him, nor did Akane. In fact, for a minute, it felt like time was standing still. Ranma felt something of a cold and heavy atmosphere during then like something he had never felt before. Then, after that minute, everything went back to normal, with Happosai splashing him with cold water and chasing Ranma while Akane followed with a mallet in hand for what happened that morning.

But Ranma couldn't shake off that feeling he got during that moment of peace, like it was a premonition of something bad. Something worse than Akane with a mallet. Something worse that Mousse and Kuno teaming up. Something even worse than cats! Ranma dismissed this thought and continued running from Akane and Happosai.

-Shift back to Duel Academy!-

Jaden was walking along side Syrus and Hassleberry, discussing the latest cards they recently got at the card shop. Hassleberry was especially proud of his new dinosaur card, while Jaden was disappointed that there wasn't anything new in his selection.

"Heehee! This card's great!" Hassleberry gloated, "I can't wait to try it out in a duel!"

"Say, Hassleberry," Syrus said, "wanna duel when we get back to the Slifer dorm? I thought up a new combo last night." Suddenly, however, the three of them heard a scream come from the Ra Yellow dorm a short ways away.

"Did you hear that?" Syrus said worried.

"You'd have to be deaf not to," Hassleberry said, "Let's go check it out!" And with that the three rushed towards the Ra dorm.

_Chapter End_


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: The Arrival of the Dark Ones

Jaden and co. rushed towards the Ra yellow dorm. After pushing through trees and leaves, they reached the clearing and gasped at what they saw.

One of the Ra Yellow students was face down on the ground while a monster laughed maniacally. It resembled Panther Warrior in the sense of appearance, but it was a darker version, with gray and red armor in place of the traditional blue and yellow and a wicked sneer. He also held a distorted saber in his right hand while a black shield sat at his feet and a duel disk took its place on his left arm.

"You lost, boy," it sneered, raising its sword, "Now you pay the price!" and he brought the sword down.

"Stop!" Jaden yelled out. The sword stopped an inch away from the Ra Yellow's head, and the panther sneered.

"What's this? Has some child come along to play pretend hero? You'd better think twice, kid, or you'll face the wrath of my blade." The cat pointed the sword at Jaden menacingly.

"Let's settle this with a duel, you overgrown house cat!" Jaden said, activating his duel disk, "Or is the big, bad house cat really a scaredy cat?"

The panther growled angrily, "You're on, kid," and he activated his duel disk, "When I win, I'll gobble you and the yellow brat up for dinner. Let's duel!" Syrus and Hassleberry dragged the Ra to safety.

"Get your game on, House Cat!" Jaden shouted.

-Duel Start-

"By the way," the cat said, drawing his cards, "I never gave my name. It's Necro Panther Warrior, but you can call me Necro for short."

"Fine, Necro," Jaden said drawing five cards, "Mine's Jaden Yuki. And I'll go first!" Jaden drew his card and looked at his hand, "I'll summon Elemental Hero Bubbleman in attack mode!" With this, everyone's favorite bubble themed superhero took the field, "And thanks to his special ability, I draw 2 more cards! *draws cards* I'll throw down a face down and end my turn!" A card appears face down and Jaden's turn ends.

"Not bad. I draw. *draw* I activate a spell card, Painful Choice!" He placed the spell on his disk and it depicted the card, "Now I choose 5 cards from my deck, and you decide which one goes to my hand while the others go to my graveyard. Now, choose!" The Painful Choice card vanished and was replaced by five new cards. From the left, they were: 1) Giant Rat; 2) Panther Warrior; 3) Giant Rat; 4) Thunder Nyan Nyan; and 5) Sangan.

"I choose Sangan," Jaden said, the others fading away as Necro added Sangan to his hand. Necro sneered at this.

"Now I activate Monster Reincarnation! I discard Sangan to add Panther Warrior to my hand!" Sangan went to the grave and Panther Warrior returned to his hand, "And thanks to Sangan's effect, I get to add Prevent Rat to my hand. I summon Panther Warrior in attack mode, and combo him with Scapegoat!" Panther Warrior appeared followed by 4 Scapegoat tokens.

"I don't like where this is going," Jaden said worried.

"Too bad! Panther Warrior, I sacrifice one token so you can attack Bubbleman!" A Scapegoat token faded away, and Panther Warrior lunged at Bubbleman. With one swing of his sword, the battle was over.

[J: 2800-N:4000]

"I activate Hero Signal!" Jaden said, his face down lifting to reveal Hero Signal, "With Bubbleman gone, I summon Clayman in his place!" Then, the hero of the earth element took the field in Bubbleman's place.

"I end my turn."

"My move!" Jaden said, drawing a card, "I switch Clayman to defense mode, and I summon Neo-Spacian Air Humming Bird in attack mode!" Clayman crouched down and the red bird hero (no, not Robin the Boy Wonder!) took his place along side Clayman, "I activate Humming Bird's effect! I gain 500 life points for each card in your hand, and I count 4, so I get 2000 life points!" 4 flowers sprouted from Necro's hand, and Humming Bird flew over and pollenated them, raising Jaden's LP to 4800.

"Not bad, brat," Necro said.

"You think that's good," Jaden said, "Wait till you see this! I attack your scapegoat token. Go, Sky Strike!" Humming Bird flew into the air and drop kicked one of the tokens, causing the sheep to burst into pixels.

"You'll pay for that," Necro growled.

"I'll finish with one more face down. I end my turn!"

"My move!" Necro drew his card and sneered, "I'll start by summoning Prevent Rat in defense mode," and a large green rodent with a blue, spiky shell appeared, "I also activate my trump card, the field spell card, Nightmare Woods!" The clearing in front of the Ra dorm morphed into a dark, creepy forest. The trees were purple and their leaves were red, and hanging over head was a red full moon.

"Wh-what is this place?" Jaden said startled.

"This is Nightmare Woods," Necro explained sneering, "Here, beast, beast-warrior, and winged beast monsters gain a 400 attack point boost, and once per turn, by skipping my draw phase, I can add one beast, beast-warrior, or winged beast monster from my deck or graveyard to my hand. But you can worry about that second part later. The red moon will turn my Panther Warrior feral, and boost his attack!" When Panther Warrior looked up at the red moon, he started changing. His fangs, claws, and fur grew a bit, and his eyes became blood shot. He let out a blood chilling howl and the transformation was complete. (A: 2400)

"Man, he almost looks just like you now!" Jaden exclaimed.

"Now, my beast, attack Air Humming Bird! Feral Panther Slash!" Another Scapegoat disappeared and Panther Warrior charged blindly towards Humming Bird, sword drawn and howling for blood.

"Activate trap card! Go, Heroic Arrival!" The face down flipped to reveal a card depicting Elemental Hero Sparkman standing between a cowering Kuriboh and a group of evil monsters, "This card activates when one of my monsters is selected as an attack target. It lets me special summon an Elemental Hero from my hand and redirect the attack to him! I summon Elemental Hero Bladedge in attack mode, and with 2600 attack points, your out of luck!" The trap disappeared and the golden hero of Jaden's deck, Bladedge, appeared in front of Air Humming Bird. He faced Panther Warrior as it was charging and cut through his sword and him with his own blade. (N: 3800)

"It seems your meat is a bit tough for my tastes," Necro said, placing a card face down on his disk, "I'll end with a face down. Your move, brat."

"And it'll be one heck of a move, too!" Jaden said, drawing a card, "I switch Clayman to attack mode. Now, Bladedge, attack Prevent Rat! Golden Hero Slash!" Bladedge dashed towards the rat and cut through it with ease, "And Bladedge can also inflict piercing damage!" After the rat disappeared, Necro's LP dropped to 3200.

"Now," Jaden said, "Humming Bird and Clayman, take out Scapegoat and direct attack! Sky Strike and Clay Tackle!" The two heroes of earth and sky charged then separated, Humming Bird taking to the sky and Clayman still charging. Humming Bird took out the last sheep with Sky Strike while Clayman tackled the Panther Warrior impostor. (N: 2400)

"Nice! Jaden's one turn away from winning!" Syrus cheered from the sidelines.

"You sound like that's shocking," Hassleberry said, "The serge had it wrapped up as soon as the war started!"

"Insolent brats!" Necro growled at them, making them shudder, "I haven't even shown my best card yet! But that'll change this turn! I activate my forest's special ability, skipping my draw phase to add a beast to my hand," he took a card from his deck and sneered his wickedest sneer yet, "I activate Emergency Provisions, ditching my forest for 1000 life points!" The forest faded away and his LP rose to 3400.

"What happened to that forest being your trump card?" Jaden gloated.

"It **is**!" Necro sneered, "The final effect of Nightmare Woods is that when it's sent from the field to the graveyard, I can special summon a beast, beast-warrior, or winged beast from my hand! And I special summon the one I just got! Go, **Necro Panther Warrior**!"

There, in front of him, the same monster that Jaden was dueling against appeared. (2000/1600)

"It's him!" Jaden gasped.

"B-b-but I never even heard of that card before!" Syrus said terrified.

"That's because there isn't any other in existence," Necro growled, "It's my host card, for I am a Dark Duel Spirit!" Everyone gasped at this shocking development. Just then, the ghostly forms of Yubel and Winged Kuriboh appeared at Jaden's sides.

Winged Kuriboh cowered behind Jaden's shoulder, whimpering.

"Winged Kuriboh is right," Yubel said trembling, "This creature is letting off an intense amount of dark energy. It's almost like a duel spirit, but...powerfully evil and malicious."

"The fur ball and the dark fairy are right," Necro said, receiving a look of surprise from Jaden, and a look of confusion from Syrus and Hassleberry.

"You can see and hear Yubel and Winged Kuriboh?" Jaden asked.

"Of course," Necro responded, "We're both duel spirits after all. Except for one important thing." He took his sword which he had re-sheathed at the start of the duel and slashed a nearby tree in half, earning a look of fright from Jaden, Syrus, and Hassleberry. "**I** can be seen and affect this world and its inhabitants," and stuck his sword in the ground.

"So," Hassleberry said scared, "this guy's a **real** monster?" to which Necro turned and sneered as he nodded, scaring Hassleberry some more.

"So what?" Jaden said, shaking off his fear, "We faced these kinds of guys back in the Duel Spirit Dimension and won! I'm not afraid of an oversized alley cat with a chunk of metal in his hand!"

To this, Necro laughed, "You are brave, aren't you? You don't fear my sword? Or claws? Or rows of razor sharp teeth?" this comment earning a gulp from Syrus and Hassleberry, "I say, that bravery, or maybe stupidity, will make my meal even more delicious when I win. Now let's continue the duel! I summon Nightmare Wolf in attack mode, and thanks to his special ability, I can add Nightmare Woods from my graveyard to my hand!" Along side the second Necro appeared a black-furred wolf with red eyes, who let out a menacing howl (1400/500). The real Necro took the Nightmare Woods in his graveyard and added it to his hand. "I now replay my Woods!" and he placed the card in the field spell slot of his duel disk, the woods returning. Necro Panther Warrior's attack jumped to 2400 and Nightmare Wolf's to 1800 as they became feral.

"And here I thought I was finally out of the woods," Jaden said.

"Make jokes all you like, I'm still going to win. I attack with my wolf and panther! Go, Midnight Take Down and Necro Slash!" The wolf dashed towards Humming Bird and bit through him, the bird bursting into pixels. Necro Panther Warrior charged towards Clayman and sliced through him with his saber. (J: 2200)

"Wait!" Syrus said, "Doesn't Panther Warrior have to sacrifice another monster to attack? Why could Necro Panther Warrior?"

"Because," Necro explained, "instead of sacrificing a monster to attack like his good twin, Necro Panther Warrior can only attack after removing from play a beast or beast-warrior monster in my graveyard from play. I ditch my Giant Rat and I can attack!" He took the Giant Rat card from his graveyard and pocketed it.

"So that's why he ditched all those cards with Painful Choice, so when his Panther came out, he could attack all he wants," Hassleberry said.

"Now before I end my turn, to keep my Panther safe from Bladedge, I activate Dark Spell Saber! I ditch my face down 'Dark Hole' and I equip the saber to Necro Panther Warrior, raising his attack by 1000!" The face down lifted to reveal Dark Hole, then was skewered by a black katana, which Necro Panther Warrior drew, shattering the card as his attack points rose to 3400.

"Jaden doesn't stand a chance against that cat now!" Syrus cried out in despair.

"Don't worry, Sy," Jaden said calmly, "My deck hasn't failed me before, and it won't fail my now. I place my trust in my deck to grant me victory!" He drew his card and smiled.

"What's this?" Necro said curiously, "Have you drawn some miracle card or something?"

"Miracle card?" Jaden said smiling, "I guess you could call it that. I pay half my life points to activate Heroic Miracle!" Jaden's LP dropped to 1100 as a card appeared in front of him, depicting Sparkman, Bubbleman, Burstinatrix, Avian, and Clayman forming a circle around Elemental Hero Neos, with energy from the five filling him.

"Heroic Miracle?" Syrus said, "I've never seen Jaden use that card before."

"That's because Chumley sent it to me from Industrial Illusions yesterday as a present,"

Jaden explained, "It has three effects, the first letting me summon an Elemental Hero from my deck, and I choose Elemental Hero Neos!" Then, the incredible space hero himself appeared, "Next, I activate Skyscraper!" and the forest turned into a nighttime city filled with tall buildings and a skyscraper in the middle, where Neos was standing atop.

"Not so fast!" Necro said, "Since my forest is gone, I summon a second Prevent Rat in defense mode!"

"Not a problem!" Jaden said,"The second effect lets me add a spell card to my hand. I summon Elemental Hero Sparkman and equip him with the Spark Blaster I just added to my hand! I switch your wolf to defense mode and your rat to attack mode!" The electric hero appeared armed with his Spark Blaster. He fire a bolt of electricity from it at Nightmare Wolf, making it yelp and switch modes, as did Prevent Rat, "And finally, I activate the final effect, to fuse a monster in my grave with a monster on my field. I combine Clayman with Sparkman, to form Elemental Hero Thunder Giant!"

The electric hero disappeared and was replaced by a giant, electricity hero.

"Incredible!" Syrus said, "Bladedge, Neos, and Thunder Giant all at once!"

"I also activate my Giant's ability! I can destroy your rat since it's original attack is less that 2400!" The giant shot a bolt of blue thunder at Prevent Rat, making it burst into pixels, "Now, I attack Necro Panther Warrior with Neos! And since Skyscraper is out and your monster is stronger, his attack rises by 1000! Go, Galactic Hero Fist!" The space hero leapt from the building, his power rising as he fell, and his fist, filled with the energy of the cosmos, collided with Necro Panther Warrior, shattering the evil monster. (N: 2900)

"My host card!" Necro roared out in despair.

"It's not over yet!" Jaden said, "I attack your wolf with Bladedge, inflicting piercing damage!" The hero sliced through the wolf and brought Necro's LP to 800, "Now Thunder Giant, finish this with Hero's Thunder!" The giant shot a bolt of electricity at Necro, reducing his points to 0.

"Nooooooooo!" he howled.

-Duel Over- [Winner: Jaden]

Necro fell to his knees, defeated. Syrus and Hassleberry ran over to Jaden to congratulate him on his victory.

"Not yet," Necro Panther Warrior hissed, the three heroes turning their attention to him. He pulled his sword out of the ground and lunged towards Jaden!

"I REFUSE TO ACCEPT THIS DEFEAT! IF I CAN'T WIN, THEN YOU CAN'T LIVE TO TELL THE TALE!" He held his sword above his head and was about to strike. Jaden fell on his end, frozen in fear, unable to run or summon a monster to defend him.

Suddenly, though, Hassleberry tackled the cat out of the way, knocking it out.

Syrus and Hassleberry helped Jaden to his feet and asked if he was fine.

"I'm fine," he said, "Just a bit shaken. What about you, Hassleberry?"

"So long as nothing happened to you, I'm fine," the dino-soldier responded, "I've never see someone do something so crazy like that over losing a game, though."

But when they turned their attention back to the cat, they saw him dissolve into black steam, until nothing was left but a card. Jaden picked up the card, seeing it was Necro Panther Warrior.

"I've never heard of this happening to a duel spirit before," Yubel said, appearing next to Jaden, "We should hold onto this card. It's still giving off a dark aura, and who knows what could happen if it fell into the wrong hands." Jaden nodded in agreement and slipped the card in his pocket.

"Well, then," Syrus said, breathing a sigh of relief, "It seems everything is back to normal. Let's get this Ra Yellow to the nurse's office and call it a day."

"I agree with the Private!" Hassleberry said, "You coming, Jaden?"

"Yeah, let's go," he responded. As they walked with Hassleberry carrying the Ra, Jaden thought, "Something tells me this isn't over yet. I just hope this isn't the calm before the storm."

_Chapter End_

OC card data time!

1} Nightmare Woods (Field Spell)

Pic: a dark clearing in a forest of purple trees with red leaves and a red moon over head

Effect: **"Beast, Beast-Warrior, and Winged Beast type monsters gain 400 attack points. Once per turn, you can skip your draw phase to add one Beast, Beast-Warrior, or Winged Beast type monster from your deck or graveyard to your hand. When this card is sent from the field to the graveyard, you can special summon one Beast, Beast-Warrior, or Winged Beast type monster from your hand."**

2} Nightmare Wolf (Effect, Beast, DARK, level 3, A: 1400/ D: 500)

Pic: a black-furred wolf with red eyes, howling at the red moon in Nightmare Woods

Effect: **"When this card is normal summoned, you can add one "NIghtmare Woods" to your hand from your deck or graveyard."**

3} Heroic Arrival (Trap)

Pic: Elemental Hero Sparkman standing between a cowering Kuriboh and a group of monsters

Effect: **"Activate only when a monster on your side of the field is selected as an attack target. Special Summon one 'Elemental Hero' from your hand, regardless of summoning conditions, and redirect the attack to it."**

4} Necro Panther Warrior (Effect, Beast, DARK, level 4, A: 2000/ D: 1600)

Pic: a darker version of Panther Warrior, wearing gray armor with a red cape

Effect: **"For this card to attack, you must remove from play one Beast, Beast-Warrior, or Winged Beast type monster from your graveyard."**

5} Heroic Miracle (Quick-play Spell)

Pic: Elemental Heroes Bubbleman, Burstinatrix, Avian, Sparkman, and Clayman forming a circle around Elemental Hero Neos and giving him power

Effect: **You must pay half your life points to activate this card. You can activate any of the three effects only once during the turn this card is activated:**

**You can special summon one 'Elemental Hero' from you deck or hand.**

**You can add one spell card from your deck to your hand.**

**You can fuse an 'Elemental Hero' on your field with one in your graveyard or hand.**

6} Dark Spell Saber (Equip Spell)

Pic: a black katana piercing a "Pot of Greed" card

Effect: **"To activate this card, you must sent one face down Normal Spell Card to the graveyard. The monster equipped with this card gains 1000 attack points. The equipped monster cannot attack after this card is activated until the next turn."**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: The Dark Spirit of Nerima Appears

Ranma was training in the Tendo training hall, punching at targets and practicing his moves. He had just perfected a new move which combined the Chestnuts Roasting Over An Open Fire technique with the Parley de Fois Gras, when Kasumi called him to dinner. After heading to the living/dining room, Ranma, Genma, Happosai, and the Tendos enjoyed the meal, then went off to enjoy the evening however they pleased. Soun and Genma played go, Kasumi left to go shopping before nightfall, Nabiki returned to her room to count her money, Akane practiced in the training hall, Happosai left to make his "pre-night runs," and Ranma decided to rest for a bit, to think about things for once.

The first thing on his mind was that eerie calm from this morning. He still couldn't shake off the feeling that something was wrong. 'Was this peace the calm before the storm?' he thought. And after everything he had faced so far, like Pantyhose Taro, Herb, and even Saffron, he had never felt this worried before. Suddenly, He was pulled from his thoughts by a scream of terror from a familiar person. 'Kasumi!'

Indeed, it was Kasumi's scream. Everyone in the house rushed to this break in the peace.

There, in the foyer of the Tendo house, with Kasumi flung over its shoulder, was a large minotaur in black armor, holding an ax in one hand and holding onto Kasumi with the other. Not even they had seen anything as strange as this monster before, except maybe Pantyhose Taro in his cursed form.

"Put down my sister!" Akane yelled. The ox man grunted and tossed the unconscious Kasumi into Soun, knocking him to the ground. Fortunately, Kasumi was unharmed.

"Don't tell me Pantyhose Taro is back again!" Genma said, taking a fighting stance.

"It's not him," Ranma replied, also taking a stance, "This guy doesn't have wings or an eel tail. And I really doubt there's a Cursed Spring of Drowned Minotaur at Jusenkyo."

"If it isn't a curse victim," Akane said, readying her fists, "then what is it?"

Suddenly, the beast spoke, "Are you Ranma Saotome?" and pointed to Ranma.

"Yes, I am Ranma Saotome, heir to the Saotome School of Anything Goes Martial Arts!" Ranma replied. The ox roared and raised his ax, and yelled, "Make that 'former heir'!" and brought it down towards Ranma. He leapt out of the way of the blow and charged forward for his own attack, Genma and Akane doing the same.

Ranma struck the ox's side with a punch, Genma kicked the side of the beast's head, and Akane punched it in the arm for it to drop the ax. But it just swatted them aside, not even flinching at their attacks or loosening its grip on the ax. All three crashed to the floor and leapt back up.

"What the heck is with this guy's strength?" Ranma said, panting, "It's like Ryoga's muscle and endurance times five!"

"Don't fret, boy," Genma said, readjusting his glasses, "No one's unstoppable, no matter how tough. It must have a weakness." That's when Ranma noticed something. The ox monster cringed a bit when it touched its side where Ranma struck.

"That's it!" Ranma realized, "His torso, where there isn't any armor, that's his weak point!"

"Good job, Ranma," Genma said, "You really are my son."

"I don't know whether to be glad or upset about that," Ranma said sweat-dropping, "I have a plan. Can you two distract that thing for a little bit while I get in close? I'll put my all into my newest move."

"You can count on me," Akane said smiling. Genma looked worried but nodded.

"Let's go!" Ranma yelled, and the three charged again, this time with Genma and Akane head on while Ranma snuck to the side. Genma delivered a few strong punches to the beast's face, while Akane kicked it hard in the shins, but neither attack really did much but enrage it more.

"Time to finish off you gnats once and for all!" it yelled, raising its ax above its head to strike Akane and Genma. But before it could attack, Ranma finished focusing all his power.

"Here goes!" Ranma yelled, "Secret Saotome Combo Attack! Chestnuts and Fois Gras!** Meteor Shower Impact!**" Using the Chestnuts technique to deliver a rapid barrage of punches and the Fois Gras to focus them all into the spot Ranma kicked before, the two moves combined to create a blast of power in one specific spot.

The ox let out a roar of pain before collapsing to his knees, dropping his ax. Ranma also fell after releasing all his energy like that, and Akane and Genma rushed over to help him.

"Ranma!" Akane cried, "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," Ranma said weakly, "That move just took a lot out of me. I just have to train more to control it."

Suddenly, they heard a growl, as the monster was still awake and had re-grabbed his ax.

"You dare bring me to my knees?" it roared, on its last leg, "Time to end this!" and he raised his ax to strike. The three were too exhausted to dodge this time. It looked like the end, when...

"Happo-Fire Burst!" A firework exploded behind the ox, burning him. He let out one last roar and collapsed again, this time for good! Standing in the doorway was none other than Happosai himself and his bag of "treasures."

"Master!" Genma and Soun cried, hugging the old man, "You saved us! We'll never call you a stupid, perverted demon again!" Happosai then took his pipe and hit both of them over the head with it, knocking them out.

"The only reason I helped you guys was because nobody harms my students but me! You're just lucky I could see that thing from so far away and mistook him for Pantyhose Taro!" he shouted, smoking his pipe. He then turned his attention to Ranma, took out a bucket of cold water, and smirked, splashing the young hero and turning him into a girl, "Now how about a reward for saving your life, my disciple?" as he pounced towards girl-Ranma, only to be knocked out by a kick from her.

"You could save my life a hundred times and I would never repay you that way!" she said to the old, unconscious monster. (And no, she wasn't addressing the ox.) She tried to stand up, but couldn't find the energy, so Akane picked her up.

Just then, Genma noticed something about the ox. Its body was dissolving into black steam, until nothing was left but a small card. Nabiki, coming out of her hiding spot, picked up the card and handed it to Ranma. She looked it over, and in the middle was a picture of the beast, under the words, "Dark Battle Ox," which she assumed was its name.

"Of all the weird things that's ever happened to me," Ranma said, "this one is definitely in the top 10. Tomorrow, we're taking this to the old ghoul for information."

"In the mean time," Soun said, tending to Kasumi, "it's getting dark, so we should head to bed. Akane, take Ranma to his room."

"I've never been so glad to be carried by a macho chick," Ranma said, resulting in Akane throwing the female Ranma through a wall, knocking her out.

"Well," Soun said, he and Genma sweat dropping, "at least Ranma will get to sleep easier now."

"Provided that didn't give him a concussion," Genma added.

OC card data time!

1} Dark Battle Ox (Effect, Beast-Warrior, DARK, level 4, A: 1700/ D: 1000)

Pic: Battle Ox with darker fur and black armor holding a large ax

Effect: **"This card gains 700 attack points when battling a FIRE attribute monster."**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Revelation of Darkness

It was early in the morning in Nerima, and Ranma and co. were walking towards the Cat Cafe, when Ryoga stumbled into Ranma.

"Watch where you're going, Ranma!" Ryoga yelled, taking a fighting stance. He was prepared for the usual fighting back and forth with Ranma, but wasn't prepared for what Ranma said as he walked past Ryoga.

"Sorry, Ryoga, but I'm not fighting you today. Something big has happened, and I don't need distractions right now."

Ryoga was shocked to say the least. This was the first time Ranma ever turned down a fight! He could tell it was something important, so he raced after them and joined to see what this was about, despite the many protests from Ranma.

At last, the group arrived at the home/chinese restaurant of Shampoo, the Cat Cafe. If anyone could enlighten them about this strange ox creature, the old ghoul Cologne could. Ryoga was up-to-date about what happened, thanks to Akane and the long, boring walk there.

"Shampoo!" Ranma called out, only to be met with the amazon crashing her bike into his face (once again).

"_Nihao_, Ranma!" she said, glomping him as per usual, "You finally come to propose to Shampoo!"

"Not this again," Ranma said, receiving a mallet blow to the head, courtesy of Akane. That was her usual response to this situation, and it wasn't going to change yet.

"We're actually here to speak with Cologne, Shampoo," Kasumi said politely, this surprising Shampoo a bit.

"She inside. Why you need to speak to her?"

"Our house was recently attacked by a giant ox monster, and we came to see if your great-grandma could enlighten us a bit on the situation," Nabiki said. This worried Shampoo, but she tried not to show it, she only took them to Cologne.

Cologne was in the kitchen, making sure the half blind Mousse wasn't breaking the dishes he was washing, when Shampoo entered followed by Ranma and his party.

"Well, well, son-in-law," Cologne said, turning her attention to them, as did Mousse, "What brings you here? Something bad, I suppose."

"A strange ox monster attacked our house last night,"Ranma explained, "and when I defeated it, it turned into this card. Maybe you can explain a bit?" Ranma fished the card out of his pocket and handed it to the amazon elder. When she saw the card, her eyes widened.

"This is indeed horrible," she said gravely, "Sit down everyone, this will take a while to explain." Everyone took a seat and listened, even Ryoga, Shampoo, and Mousse, "This is something called a Dark Duel Spirit. You see, long ago, in ancient Egypt, even before the Amazonian dynasty, wizards who served the pharaoh Atem played a game called Duel Monsters, using real monsters to attack each other. They were sealed away in stone tablets by Atem and his sorcerers, but were soon released again.

"A man named Maximillion J. Pegasus, a wealthy American game designer, unearthed this history, and created the Duel Monsters card game from the slabs of the monsters. It was phenomenally popular the world over, but many sought to use the power of the original monsters to destroy the world. One man named Yugi Moto stood against them, and became the Duel Monsters Champion. He resealed the spirits of the monsters so their power could never again ravage the world.

"The spirits resided in a realm all their own, the Duel Monster Spirit Realm, and lived at peace. Unfortunately, other villains arose to control these spirits, but another young man, Jaden Yuki, rose against them as the new champion. With a spirit called 'Winged Kuriboh,' he defeated the evil doers and brought peace to the spirit world, and gained new power through it.

"But separate to these spirits are evil doppelgangers, called Dark Duel Spirits. This Dark Duel Spirit is an artificial counterpart of its original spirit, the Battle Ox.

Their sighting is a sign of the arrival of a great and powerful evil. This foe is stronger than me, stronger than even Phoenix King Saffron, and much, much stronger than you, Ranma."

Ranma was extremely shocked at this. He hadn't known anyone stronger than Saffron, and the brat had almost killed him once already! "Who is this person, and what does he want?"

"His name is unknown as of yet, but his goal is certain: to cloud the world in an eternity of darkness and rule as king."

There was a dark silence for a minute, until Ranma said, "This might ruin the moment, but I think this is the first bad guy I've ever faced whose actual goal is world conquest," and to this, everyone face-fell.

"This is no joking matter, son-in-law," Cologne continued, "If this foe succeeds, the world will be plagued by the Dark Duel Spirits."

"Why did that one Dark Spirit attack our house?" Soun asked.

"It was probably sent to take out Ranma and the other Jusenkyo curse victims," the old ghoul replied, "They give off a strong sense of magic, as do the regular spirits, so they assume you will also hinder their conquest, and sought to get rid of you. It probably attacked your home first because it was closest. This ox creature probably wasn't too smart in its choice of targeting, seeing how it lost to you."

"I have a question about them," Akane said, "Those Dark Duel Spirits, when we fought one, Ranma gave his all to defeat it, but it didn't stay down. Just how strong are these things?" Ranma and Genma nodded in agreement. Ryoga and Mousse were worried, seeing as just one could bring Ranma to his knees.

"An excellent question," Cologne said, "but a grave answer. I fear this monster you faced was but one of their weakest. Like I said before, the leader of these monsters is much more powerful than Ranma, and the spirits it controls are beasts, warriors, and even robots, demons, and wizards, all skilled in combat and magic. To face them on your own or even with an army is foolish beyond belief. They would obliterate any force that rose against them in mere moments."

"Then how are we supposed to defeat these monsters?" Mousse cried out.

"There is one way. It seems the strength of these monsters comes from something called 'Duel Energy.' The Dark Spirits are not only skilled fighters, but are trained to be duelists, people who play the Duel Monsters card game. If a Dark Duel Spirit loses a duel, they are drained of most of their Duel Energy and greatly weakened. But this weakness is a two-sided coin, for if they win duels, they gain an immense boost in Duel Energy and power. For Ranma to stand against these creatures and save the world, he must learn to play this game so he stands a chance against the Spirits."

"So let me get this straight," Ranma said, "To save the world from giant, evil monsters, I have to learn how to play a children's card game that was based on egyptian wizards killing each other with 20 foot monsters." Everyone paused to take the entire concept in. Even they thought it sounded weird, and half of them were victims of a curse that changes their form when they're splashed with cold water!

"Well, it does sound crazy when you put it that way, but that's the reality of what's going on," Cologne responded, regaining her composure.

"Hold on," Ryoga said, turning the attention to him, "I refuse to be beaten at anything by Ranma, so I want to learn, too!"

"Shampoo will help Ranma by learning crazy card game, too!" Shampoo said.

"If Shampoo will learn, so will I!" Mousse replied, hugging a large pot he mistook for Shampoo (again, half blind).

"As a martial artist, I can't stand by and let the world get destroyed. I'll learn as well," Genma said, standing tall.

"Pop, you're just saying that because there isn't anywhere to hide in the world, aren't you?" Ranma said blandly, to which Genma splashed himself with water and turned into a panda to avoid the question.

"I'm not going to stand by and be left behind again," Akane said, "So I'll learn as well."

"Akane, I won't let you get yourself hurt!" Ranma said sternly.

"Ranma, it's just a children's card game. I won't get hurt."

"Oh, right," Ranma said, embarrassed.

"So," Ryoga said, addressing Cologne, "will you be the one teaching us about this game?"

"Are you kidding? I don't know the first thing about the game!" To this, everyone face-fell, "But I do have an old friend who knows more about the game than anyone else in the world. He'll teach you."

Just then, the sounds of helicopter rudders were heard outside. When everyone rushed outside, they saw a large, green combat chopper, hovering in the air with a rope ladder released. On the side of the copter were two white "I"s.

"W-what the-," Ryoga stuttered, but was cut off by Cologne.

"This copter is owned by my friend. It will protect you until you meet him. Everything you need is in the copter already. Good luck!"

"Let's go, guys!" Ranma said as he climbed the rope ladder, followed by Ryoga, Shampoo, Mousse, who got kicked by Shampoo for using this as an opportunity to peek up her dress, then Akane, and finally Genma, turned back to human form before going.

The inside of the copter was pretty empty, save for a flat screen in the front, behind where the pilot was, and a wooden desk and spinning armchair in front of the television. The chair turned around to reveal the "old friend" that Cologne spoke of. He had long white hair that hid one eye and wore a red suit. Most people who watch Yugioh would recognize him instantly.

"Are you the old ghoul's friend, mister?" Ranma asked, to which the man chuckled and replied.

"Yes, Cologne and I go back a bit, but let's save that for later, and it's not 'mister,' Ranma-boy. You can call me Pegasus."


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: The War of Duel Academy

_Earlier the day before_

Jaden, Hassleberry, and Syrus had dropped off the Ra Yellow at the Nurse's Office. She reassured them that he was fine and all he needed now was rest. They had returned to the Slifer Dorm, and pondered on what was going on.

"This is the first time a duel spirit I defeated turned into a card after the match," Jaden said, breaking the silence.

"Hey, serge," Hassleberry said, "speaking of which, can we see the card?"

"Yeah, we might be able to figure something out from it," Syrus added. Yubel nodded to Jaden, signifying it was safe to do so. He handed the card to the two.

"Hard to believe this card tried to kill you early today," Syrus said. Jaden shivered a bit, not wanting to think about that.

"It looks just like Panther Warrior, though," Hassleberry said, examining the card, "only scarier and evil-looking."

"I'm more concerned about that 'Dark Duel Spirit' thing it said earlier," Jaden said, taking back the card, "What could it mean?"

"Jaden!" Suddenly, Alexis, Chazz, and Atticus bursted through the door. Unfortunately, the door flew off the hinges and hit Hassleberry.

"What's up, guys?" Jaden asked concerned.

"The Obelisk Blue dorm is over-run with real duel monsters!" Atticus said.

"So is the girl's dorm!" Alexis said.

"And even after they lose in duel monsters, they still attack people!" Chazz finished.

"I think you should sit down, guys," Jaden said as Hassleberry put the door near the entrance, "This could take awhile."

"So these things are some kind of evil duel spirits?" Alexis asked, Jaden finished explaining the Necro Panther Warrior situation.

"Apparently," Chazz said, "Even the Ojama Brothers could tell, seeing as they're too scared to appear in spirit form. At least that's a plus."

"It seems these things are only scaring the students by drawing their weapons and kicking over furniture, though," Atticus said, "They haven't actually hurt people yet."

"Yeah! All they've really done so far was round up the tougher duelists into the blue dorm and and searched for more people," Chazz said, "It's like they don't want duelists who can actually fight to be wandering around and challenging the monsters to duels."

"Hey, I just thought of something!" Jaden said, shocking everyone more than it should have, "When I beat that Panther, it looked like he was weakened, but not defeated. It wasn't until Hassleberry knocked him out that he disappeared into steam."

"Maybe duels aren't enough to take down these guys," Atticus said, pondering what was happening, "Maybe they also have to lose a real fight to be gone!"

"That makes sense!" Syrus said, everyone more hopeful now, "Okay, who here knows how to fight?" But all there was was crickets chirping in the background, "Oh, come on, really? Hassleberry, you tackled that one, remember?"

"Yeah, but that was backed by everything I had, not to mention he was caught off guard."

"We're duelists, Sy, not street fighters," Chazz said, lowering Syrus hopes once again, "We'll have to get to the teachers back in the school to figure out what to do."

"Good idea," Atticus said. The group then made their way towards the school, hiding in the shadows and beneath bushes to avoid being seen by the Dark Duel Spirits.

Eventually, the group of six made it to the building. Along the way to the teachers' room, where the adults had made a shelter from the creatures, the group saw many familiar monsters, like Lord of D., Jinzo, Vorse Raider, and even a Buster Blader, each a darker and more sinister version of their originals.

When they reached their destination, they found two stacked-together tables blocking the door as a barricade. Alexis knocked four times and said it was them. The doors opened slightly to let the team inside. The entire room was stocked with enough medicine and food to wait out a few weeks. Apparently, after being sent to Duel Monsters Limbo and back, the school prepared for such things as trivial as a duel monster invasion.

"Welcome back," Dr. Crowler said, emerging from behind a chair, "So you've brought Jaden with you then?" Jaden stepped into view and Crowler sighed in relief.

"Now, if monsieur Yuki would enlighten us on the situation, we could stop hiding like rats in a mouse hole," Bonapart said, coming out of his hiding spot behind a desk. Soon, everyone else emerged, including Dorothy, Shepherd, and the other students who made their way to the safe house. Jaden spent a few minutes explaining the whole monster crisis, including their need of fighters.

"Well, it's an interesting story," Shepherd said, "but unfortunately none of our students know how to actually fight. And even if dueling weakens the dark spirits, they still have weapons they can use against us. We're cornered!"

"I never thought it was end this way!" Crowler and Bonapart cried dramatically, "I never got to see Italy!"

"Pull yourselves together!" Hassleberry yelled to them, making them stop crying, "You're the adults! If you give up, we'll all give up hope!" The two wiped their tears and nodded, standing tall.

"We need to get a message out for help," Chazz said, taking control of the situation, "Even if we can't fight, maybe someone else can."

"In the mean time," Jaden said, "we can weaken these guys by dueling them, so when help does arrive, they can get rid of the monsters easier!"

Everyone cheered in agreement of this strategy.

That night, the students and teachers made a plan. They would divide into two groups: the first would leave to duel as many duel monsters as they could, weakening them for when help arrived, while the second group would hold down the fort and call for help with the emergency video phone. The first team consisted mainly of the GX team and a few of the more skilled students. The second team consisted of Atticus, the teachers, and the remaining students who weren't as skilled as the first team. Atticus decided to join the second team with Crowler and Bonapart in case a few spirits caught on to where the base was. Come morning, the first team would charge through the spirits and lead them away from the base. The DA army slept well, knowing they at least had a plan that could save them.

When the sun arose, the first team snuck among the shadows until they were a safe distance away from the base, lest the dark spirits attack their friends. When the base was out of sight, they charged as loudly as possible, drawing the spirits to them like wasps to a bug zapper. The charge paused as the team activated their duel disks and challenged the monsters. The Dark Duel Spirits accepted, thinking a Duel Energy boost to be the perfect early morning pick-me-up. Each one activated the duel disk they had stolen from their captives, unaware of how powerful the opposing duelists were.

Meanwhile, at the present time, Ranma and co. were flying over the Pacific Ocean. Pegasus was teaching them the basics of the game and how the duel disks worked. To teach them some strategies, he had them practice duel puzzles after mastering the basics of what was what. Ranma seemed to pick up pretty quickly, as did Shampoo. She was really fond of the Amazoness cards, seeing as they reminded her of her village.

"Those cards are actually how I met Cologne," Pegasus said, recounting the past, "Ten years ago, when I recovered from my incident with that Bakura fellow, I first started making the second series of duel monsters cards. I had heard of the legend of the Amazons, a race of female warriors, and I wanted to turn that legend into reality.

"I first ventured into the Amazon Rain Forest in search of this warrior tribe, but failed to find them. I had given up hope when I heard tale of the Amazons residing in China. Oh, how thrilled I was that my dream was still alive!

"After mounting a second exploration team, we traveled deep into the heart of China. After many weeks, we eventually stumbled upon the village and its warrior residents. I met with Cologne and explained why I had traveled so far. She honored my request and allowed me to create the Amazoness cards based off the Amazonian heroines of the village's history.

"Upon my return home, I created the cards and sent a deck of them to Cologne as a present. When I last saw her she said she was very grateful for them."

"Didn't the old bag say she didn't know the first thing about Duel Monsters, though?" Ranma asked Shampoo, and she nodded. Pegasus sweat-dropped at this.

"Well, when I sent the cards, the duel monsters handbook that was with them got lost in the mail," he responded sheepishly, causing everyone to face-fall.

Everyone was able to get the basics of dueling down, so they decided to obtain their own decks upon their arrival at Pegasus's Island. Suddenly, though, a message came in on the monitor behind the desk.

"Hello!" Shepherd said, somewhat panicked, "Can anyone hear me? We are under attack by an army of malicious duel monsters! We need any and all help! Our coordinates are Lat. 118, Lon. 41. Please, sent assistance!"

"Chancellor Shepherd!" Crowler yelled, "The Dark Duel Spirits are starting to break down the door!"

"Please hurry!" Shepherd said before the transmission cut out.

"It seems the spirits are also after the champion," Pegasus said. "That location isn't far from here. We have to rescue them! Pilot, change direction to Duel Academy!"

"Yes sir, Mr. Pegasus!" the pilot responded, the course now set for Duel Academy.

"I do hope you don't mind," Pegasus said, addressing Ranma and co. "We'll have to wait a bit until you get your cards, but this is quite the opportunity! Not only do I get to see the infamous martial artists of Nerima in action, the young champion Jaden-boy will join us as well!"

"That reminds me," Genma said, "How will this Jaden kid help us against the spirits? Can he fight?"

Pegasus shook his head, "Oh, I doubt it. I was saving this surprise for when he arrived, but actually, I was hoping Ranma-boy could at least teach him the basics or so of martial arts." Everyone was a bit surprised by this, Ranma more so than the others.

"You mean," he said, "I get to have my very own pupil?"

"That's basically it."

"Yes! I'm finally a master!"

"Quit looking like an idiot," Akane griped, Mousse, Ryoga, and Genma nodding in agreement.

"Oh, shut up, you non-masters!" He responded, ending up knocked out by Akane's mallet to shut him up.

"I hope he at least wakes up before the next chapter so we don't have to fight the spirits on our own," Genma said.

"Next what?" Pegasus asked, confused.

"Nothing."


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6: The Fated Encounter

"We can't hold out much longer!" Syrus yelled, taking down another Dark Duel Spirit. The duelist army had been dueling the evil spirits for three hours straight, each member achieving victory at least once. But they were soon overwhelmed by how many spirits could duel them. They didn't know that this many duel disks even existed on the island!

"I know, Syrus!" Jaden responded, ending his duel with an attack from Elemental Hero Aqua Neos. "We just have to wait till the others get a message for help sent. In the mean time, we have to weaken these guys as much as we can." He immediately started a new duel with a dark version of Celtic Guardian.

"Jaden, we can't keep this up much longer!" Alexis said, defeated a darker Saggi the Dark Clown. "Sooner or later, these guys will overpower us with superior numbers. We should retreat for the time being and rest up."

"Alexis is right!" Hassleberry said, finishing his duel with another spirit. "If we don't recover, these guys will eat us alive! And some might actually do that!"

"Fine, we'll retreat for the moment," Jaden said, deactivating his duel disk. "I just hope Shepherd and the others got a message sent by now."

Everyone deactivated their disks as well, and the group took off towards the Ra dorm where they could rest awhile. But the spirits gave chase, only weakened by the duels. Luckily, that was enough to allow the duelists to put enough distance between them. As the group turned a corner, Jaden activated his disk and summoned Clayman to block their escape passage. The giant punched through the ceiling, creating a rain of rubble to form a wall between the two forces. "This won't hold for long," Jaden said as the monsters started scratching and chipping away at the rubble, "but it should be enough for now." And the hero ran off after his team.

The army had finally made it out of the school, and Jaden had caught up to them at last. They had been running for what seemed like hours, and each member was starting to lose the drive and energy to continue.

But then, hope was in sight. The yellow roof of the Ra dorm, the last sanctuary of the duelists, came into sight. It looked as though the building was passed over by the monsters, seeing as there weren't any students there. I guess the fact that most of the Ra's had moved on to Blue, while some (Syrus and Hassleberry) stayed in the Red dorm is to thank for that. The group rushed inside and barricaded the doors, using this minute to catch their breath while they were safe.

Outside, the Dark Duel Spirits were searching for their prey, some walking, others flying. One even had the wheels of a tank! None of them wanted to risk being beaten again and weakened more, so they saw it fit to rid their new home of its duelist infestation before they could do more harm. Each spirit readied their weapons, claws, fangs, or whatever they used to tear people limb from limb as they approached the Ra dorm.

"We have them cornered now!" one said, unsheeving its saber.

"They can't hide in there for long," another said, bearing its talons, "A few good scratches with these and those brats will be nothing more than a bad memory."

"Don't go hogging them all to yourself, though," a spellcaster spirit said, brandishing his staff. "I have a spell or two I've been dying to use on someone, and these kids will make the perfect guinea pigs." The entire army of monsters then burst out in maniacal laughter.

"Jaden, we're doomed!" Syrus said, pushing a table against the door. "These guys look like they can tear apart the door at any second, and we're too exhausted to duel them anymore!"

"Plus," Hassleberry said, nailing a window shut, "there isn't enough food in the dorm to last more than a few days. We can't wait to be rescued for that long."

"And don't forget the others," Alexis said, helping a Blue with another table. "Without us, they can't out duel these guys for more than an hour. We have to find a way back to them, at least."

"Don't worry, guys," Jaden said, "We'll win no matter what."

"I beg to differ," a voice said behind the group. They turned reluctantly to face a large, bipedal lizard with purple skin and red clothes wrapped around his forearms and shins. "Greetings, morsels! I am Nega Gagagigo, the monster who will be devouring you today!" The group screamed in response, rushing for the barricaded door.

"Hold up!" Chazz shouted, standing his ground before the lizard. Everyone stopped running and turned to watch him. "I'm not running from some overgrown gecko with a skin disorder! Jaden's too exhausted to duel for the moment, so I'll duel in his place!" Chazz activated his duel disk and stared down Nega Gagagigo.

"Interesting," the lizard said, activating his own, "I accept your challenge, Mr. Appetizer!"

"Duel!" they said simultaneously, but suddenly, they all heard to sound of a helicopter outside. A minute afterwards they heard the sound of skulls being bashed to pieces from where the Dark Spirit army was. (take three guesses why)

Pegasus couldn't believe his eye when he saw the martial artists in action. Ranma, Shampoo, Mousse, Ryoga, and Akane had leapt from the copter the moment it landed and proceeded to kick the butt of anything within a fifteen meter radius of them. Ranma took out quite a few of the monsters with the Heaven Blast of the Dragon and his new Meteor Shower Impact. Ryoga's Shishi Hokodan cleared away just as many, and he even destroyed a few rock-types with the Bakusaitenketsu. Mousse's array of hidden weapons caught a few beast-warrior and warrior-types off guard, as did his strength. Shampoo's chinese martial arts overwhelmed many of the spirits, as was Akane's muscle strength and skill with a mallet. Genma chose to stay behind on the copter to "protect Pegasus from the spirits." (cowardese for "No way! I'm not going anywhere near those monsters! I don't wanna die!") By the time it was over, the only ones left standing were two or three Dark Duel Spirits and the Nerima team. Every other DDS had turned into black steam, which covered the trading card-covered battlefield. The last ones ran off in terror before the arrival of the duelists.

The small army of duelists had escaped their temporary base just in time to witness the display of "kick-butt Nerima-brand awesomeness" that was going down. Suffice to say, Pegasus wasn't the only one impressed by the army of six (well, five, to be exact, since all Genma did was hide in the helicopter). The GX team were the only ones who saw the fight from start to finish, while the others had only caught the second half (it happened **that **fast!), save for Chazz, who was still dueling Barney's evil twin.

"Whoa!" Jaden said, breaking the silence and attracting the attention of Ranma and co., "That was amazing, you guys!"

"It was," Alexis said astonished. "They were completely obliterated!"

"And in less than five minutes, too!" Syrus said, his eyes as wide as his duel disk.

"Sure beats the heck out of my tackle!" Hassleberry added.

"Very good, everyone!" Genma yelled from the helicopter. "Just as I planned!" And to this he received a stone to the face from Ranma.

"Oh, don't go pulling an Usopp on us, Pop!"

"He really planned that whole counterattack?" Syrus yelled astonished.

"Don't go pulling a Chopper on **us**, Syrus," Alexis responded sweat-dropping.

"All right," Pegasus said, exiting the helicopter with Genma, "Enough fourth wall-breaking One Piece references, everyone. We have urgent business with Jaden-boy." While everyone gasped and awed at the appearance of the creator of Duel Monsters, Jaden stepped forward and approached them.

Jaden and Ranma faced one another, each feeling the fighting spirit of the other's aura. Winged Kuriboh appeared next to Jaden, then flew over to Ranma. The winged ball of fur hovered around Ranma, inspecting him, then let out a happy cheer and flew back to Jaden.

"Okay, what is that flying hair ball and why did it hover around me?" Ranma asked Jaden, surprising him.

"You can see Winged Kuriboh?" he asked. Ranma responded, "If by Winged Kuriboh, you mean that fur-covered fairy-thing, then yes, I can see him as plain as day."

"Ranma, what are you talking about?" Akane asked questionably. "There isn't anything there."

"Stupid girl blind, too?" Shampoo addressed Akane, "Shampoo see flying rat-thing, too!"

"As do I," Ryoga said in response.

"Even I can see it and I'm half blind!" Mousse yelled, pointing at the creature.

"Mousse, you're pointing at that Jaden kid," Ranma responded dryly. "The Kuriboh-thing is to his left."

"Oh," Mousse put his glasses on and saw it for real this time.

"How strange," Genma said, looking between Akane and the Kuriboh, "that Akane can't see it, but the rest of us can."

"Usually," Pegasus explained, "the good duel spirits like Winged Kuriboh can be seen by people who have come in contact with the spirits, like Jaden-boy. But that can't be possible for you, since you don't even have duel monster cards in Nerima."

"The old ghoul mentioned something about Jusenkyo victims having the same magical aura as duel spirits."

"But then why did Ryoga see the spirit?" Akane asked.

"Oh, uh..." Ryoga replied sweating, "maybe all the time I spent around Jusenkyo curse victims caused some magic to rub off on me!" Ryoga laughed with an idiotic grin on his face as Akane figured that may be it. (Also, for those of you who don't read Ranma 1/2, let me explain. Ryoga **is **an actual curse victim. He fell into the Spring of Drowned Black Piglet in Jusenkyo, so when splashed with water, he turns into a little black piggy. Akane is the only person in Nerima who doesn't know about his curse, because Ryoga thinks that if she discovers it, she will reject him.)

"Moving along," Ranma changed the subject, trying to save Ryoga from being found out, "those spirits we fought weren't very tough, surprisingly."

"Yeah," Mousse agreed, "compared to the ox monster Ranma faced, these guys were an early morning's workout! Why is that?"

"Actually," Jaden said, "we were dueling them before you got here. We weakened them, but none of us knew how to fight against them for real! We were completely helpless-" a look of sudden realization dawned on Jaden's face, "Oh no!"

"What's wrong?" Genma asked.

"Everyone else! Those spirits could be attacking the base right now!" Everyone gasped in response.

"Let's hurry, everyone!" Ranma shouted, but before they could move on, Chazz came rushing out of the dorm, the lizard monster roaring as it chased him.

"Guys!" He yelled, "Help! The second I defeated this thing, it attacked me!"

"All I needed to hear was 'I defeated this thing'," Ranma said, cracking his knuckles. He leapt into the air and landed a strong kick to the spirit's chest. The lizard went flying off into the nearby forest, and the only sign of its vanquishing was the black steam coming from the forest.

"With that taken care of, let's move!" Ryoga said, as the army of duelists and martial artist charged forward.

_Chapter End_


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7: Jaden's Master

Everyone was seated in the teachers' room, the martial artists out of breath and the rest being treated for any wounds they sustained. Ranma lied on the couch, every one of his muscles aching for the first time in his life. Ryoga simply crashed onto the floor in exhaustion, while Mousse was stuck in a trash can he mistook for a chair. Shampoo was resting next to Ranma, both he and Akane too exhausted to do anything about it, but fortunately Shampoo was too tired to try anything and just ended up rolling off the couch and onto the floor. The GX team was in a similar state from all the duels, yet the only ones passed out on the floor were Jaden, Hassleberry, and Syrus, while the drained others were sitting in chairs. Genma (having done very little fighting at all) was the only one of the six Nerima residents not at the point of passing out.

To explain, when the Nerima team, Pegasus, and the duelists arrived at the base camp, they found it under siege by the Dark Duel Spirits. The duelist defense team of Crowler, Bonapart, and Atticus were on their last legs, winning each duel, but losing quickly to the vast number of challengers. Fortunately, the GX team had recovered enough during the run to fend off the remaining forces of the DDS, while Ranma's team finished them off. They then proceeded to rid the entire island of the DDS menace. By now, Ranma and co. had enough DDS cards to start their own card shop!

Genma, Pegasus, Crowler, Bonapart, and Shepherd sat together at the meeting table in the center of the room, discussing their current situation.

"So, what you're saying is," Shepherd asked, "that these monsters are evil duel spirits, and the only hope we have of beating them is for Ranma to learn Duel Monsters?"

"That's correct," Pegasus answered calmly. "These things need to be defeated in actual combat to be destroyed."

"But they're too strong to be taken out at full strength," Genma continued, "so our only way of weakening them is by defeating them in duels. As Chazz demonstrated with that one lizard spirit, they lose a significant amount of Duel Energy, and thus power, when defeated."

"If that's the case we will be happy to teach the boy here," Shepherd said happily. But Pegasus simply shook his head.

"No offense, Shepherd, but I have to teach Ranma."

"But why?" Bonapart asked confused, "Duel Academy is the best duelist educational facility in the world!"

"For two reasons," Pegasus explained, holding up two fingers. "One: This school has already been discovered by the DDS, and they have made it clear that they see it as a threat. Ranma and the martial artists must devote their entire time to learning duel monsters, so fighting swarms of them will result in this," he directed towards the tired out fighters, "happening everyday until we get defeated.

"Two: if Ranma does learn here, and the spirits attack, it puts everyone else at risk of being caught in the crossfire. As an educator of youths, I know that is the last thing you would want to happen to your students."

"I see your point," Shepherd agreed, Crowler and Bonapart nodding in agreement.

"Besides, the spirits will now target Ranma's team only. Seeing as conquering the school was so easy, they should no longer see you as a threat. So if any of them stayed here, they would jeopardize the entire island.

"My island is unknown to them, and thus the ideal training facility. In fact, we were on our way there when we received your distress signal, which gave me the perfect idea."

"Oh?" Shepherd said.

"That's right," Genma said smiling, "We'd like to take Jaden as well, so he can learn martial arts!" This surprised the teachers, and Jaden quickly recovered and rushed over to hear this.

"You want me to learn how to fight?" Jaden said, pointing at himself.

"Of course!" Pegasus said happily. "You're the best duelist on the island, no doubt about that. And we need your skill at dueling to stop these things. Dueling skill, however, won't be enough though. Ranma-boy will instruct you on the basics of Anything Goes Martial Arts. He _is_the best practitioner of it in Nerima."

"You're forgetting someone!" a voice yelled out of nowhere, followed by an explosion from the ceiling. Jaden readied his disk and Genma his fists, but what emerged from the smoke was so fast it was a blur. It sped past Genma and Jaden and proceeded to...flip the skirts of every female duel academy student?

"Kyaa!"

"Eeek!"

"Aaah!"

The thing flew through them all and straight towards Alexis.

"Alexis, no!" Jaden yelled, but suddenly, Ranma found the strength to rush over and punch it through the wall.

"Stupid, old perv," Ranma growled. The thing leapt back into the room and stood before Ranma, showing a familiar face.

"Is that any way to treat your master?" Happosai yelled angrily at Ranma, hitting him in the head with his pipe. "And I don't remember you being so weak, brat!"

"Shut up! I just fought an entire army of monsters, of course I'd be tired!"

"Stupid, excuse-making disciple!"

"Stupid, old perv!"

"Enough you two!" Akane, having regained her strength, yelled as she hit them both over the head. "Happosai, why are you even here?" Happosai lighted his pipe and sat down.

"When you were leaving on the helicopter, I snuck aboard and clung to the tail of it for dear life. After all, how could I let my precious disciple go off and fight an army of monsters by himself?" Happosai teared up a bit, causing Ranma to lower his guard. The old demon took this opportunity to splash him with cold water and turn him into a girl. "Now how about a reward for my troubles?" he cried as he leapt towards Ranma-chan. He was met, however, with Akane's mallet to the face.

"Is he always like this?" Pegasus asked Genma, pointing at Happosai. Genma responded, "Actually he's being much more polite than usual."

"I bet the only reason he came was to molest every female student on the island," Ranma-chan said bitterly, the others nodding in agreement and Happosai face falling. It was then everyone noticed that the duel academy students and personnel were staring in shock at Ranma. She looked down at her transformation and remembered they never explained Jusenkyo yet.

"Oh yeah, they don't know about Ranma's curse," Akane said.

After a few minutes of explanation and transformations (except for Ryoga), the entire school knew of Ranma, Shampoo, Genma, and Mousse's curses and transformations (except for Ryoga's).

"And I thought that Mousse guy was pathetic enough, but turning into a duck? Now that's weak," Chazz sneered, earning a glare and curse words at a statue from Mousse.

"So there's a hot spring training ground that can turn people into animals, people, and even monsters?" Jaden asked in amazement.

"This world is full of unexplained mysteries, Ranma-boy," Pegasus responded, taking a sip from his tea. Shampoo and the kitchen staff saw it fit to provide refreshments for the students during the long explanations.

"I can attest to that," Happosai said, smoking his pipe. "Anyway, I have business here with the Kuriboh-head and Pegasus."

"For the last time, my hair doesn't look like a Kuriboh!" Jaden yelled, only to be bonked on the head by Happosai's pipe.

"Respect your elders, brat! As I was saying, I overheard your conversation about this kid's master. I also heard that Ranma has to focus on learning that card game, so you must agree that not even Ranma can beat the basics of Anything Goes Martial Arts into Kuriboh head with such a limited schedule."

"Did he just say 'beat'?" Jaden asked sweat-dropping.

"Well, I see your point," Pegasus responded, surprised he overlooked that crucial part of the plan. "But since Genma is such a weakling," "Hey!" "the only person able to properly teach Jaden is Ranma-boy. What do you suggest?" Happosai sneered evilly, sending a chill down everyone's spines.

"I'll take the boy under my wing in place of Ranma!" the old demon laughed. Ranma's dream of having a pupil shattered, and Jaden was terrified (and considering half the stuff he sees, that's saying something!).

"I feel sorry for the poor kid," Ryoga whispered to Mousse, the half-blind weapon user nodding in agreement.

"Same here, Ryoga. That old man's a beast! I'd sooner take my chances with Pantyhose Taro, and he's a giant, winged ox monster, for Pete's sake!" Unfortunately, the person he whispered that to was Jaden, who nearly wet himself at this news.

"If anyone can get the kid ready to fight those monsters in time, it' good old Happosai!" the old demon cackled. Pegasus saw that they had no other recourse. Ranma needed to be focused on training, so Happosai was the only other person to teach Jaden. Pegasus nodded in approval, much to the dismay of Jaden and Ranma.

"Very well, then," the white haired man said, "I appoint you to be Jaden-boy's martial arts instructor."

"Perfect! Let's start his training first thing tomorrow morning!" Happosai cheered, waving his pipe in the air. Ranma and Jaden were both turned into stone by this news.

"Good luck, kid," Genma said placing his hand on Jaden's shoulder, "you're gonna need it."

-The Next Morning-

Jaden was fast asleep in his dorm room, with visions of duel monster cards dancing in his head. When suddenly...

"WAKE UP, STUPID BRAT!" Jaden fell out of bed and got stepped on by Happosai. "Time to start training." Jaden glanced at the clock and was wide eyed.

"It's 4:00 in the morning! The sun isn't even up yet!"

Happosai hit him with his pipe and yelled, "Idiot! The 14th rule of 'Happosai's Anything Goes Training' states that if it's after midnight but before noon, it's morning!" The old man then kicked Jaden out of the room. "You should be glad I let you sleep in for 3 hours and 59 minutes."

-35 minutes later-

Jaden was running on the path to Duel Academy with weights tied to his arms and legs while simultaneously pulling a sled with Happosai on it, whip in hand.

"Isn't 4 laps around the island a bit tough for the first day?" Jaden yelled to the old man.

"Rule 11! 'Nothing is too tough!' Now run!" Happosai responded, whipping Jaden until he sped up.

-2 hours later-

Jaden was in the gym, dodging dodgeballs for his life as Happosai shot them with a bazooka. You heard me.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Jaden yelled as one just missed his face.

"Rule number 1! 'Master Happosai is always right!' And I say this is a good idea!" he responded, reloading the bazooka. "Now this time try to catch them, and no crying when they hit you anymore. I'm not training a wimp!"

-45 minutes later-

Jaden and Happosai, both dressed like burglars, were in the girl's locker room.

"What does stealing girl's underwear have to do with martial arts training?" Jaden asked.

"Rule 8! 'Shut up and steal!'" the old man responded in a hushed voice.

-Lunch time-

"I...can't...take it...anymore!" Jaden whined, face flat into his mashed potatoes. The poor Slifer Red was sitting at the same table as Ranma, Mousse, and Ryoga in the Slifer cafeteria. "That freak can't possibly be human! This kind of training is absolutely inhumane!"

"Can't say we didn't warn you," Mousse said, drinking a can of soda.

"But you didn't warn me!"

"We didn't?" Mousse responded, "Well...then let me warn you now. Run as far away as you can and don't look back." Ranma then smacked Mousse in the back of the head.

"Don't go giving him ideas. Jaden is tough, and he would never do something so cowardly. Right, Jaden?"

"Right. Never," Jaden said sweat dropping as he pushed his full backpack back under his seat.

"Anyway," Ryoga said, finishing his green beans, "while you've been strength training for when you learn the Anything Goes techniques, we've been learning the basics of duel monsters with Professor Crowler."

"Do you think you could give us a few tips on how to strengthen our decks, Jaden? All that jerk did was yell at us every 12 minutes," Ranma added.

"You've been making your decks already?" the Slifer asked. "Let me see." Ranma, Mousse, and Ryoga each took out a deck box. Ryoga's was yellow, Mousse's was white, and Ranma's was red. Jaden looked through each deck, but with a ill look on his face.

"Mousse," he started," your deck is filled with nothing but trap cards. Not a single monster or spell."

"I thought that those would be the best ones for me to use!" the weapon-specialist beamed, "I especially like the one called Mirror Force." Jaden set Mousse's deck down and picked up Ryoga's.

"Ryoga, your deck is filled with nothing but monster cards! And most of them are too high level to summon without a sacrifice!"

"But those were the strongest cards I could find," the headband-wearing curse victim said sheepishly, "I thought that your cards had to be super strong for you to win."

Jaden sighed as he placed Ryoga's deck down and finally picked up Ranma's.

"Now Ranma, it seems like you get the basic concept of a variety of cards."

"It **was** the first thing that Crowler guy taught us," the martial artist smirked, getting a glare out of Ryoga and Mousse. But Jaden still didn't look happy with Ranma's deck.

"Yeah, but the problem is that none of your cards work together. For example, you put Hero Signal in your deck, but there isn't one Elemental Hero in your deck. And you put the Black Luster Soldier in here, but without the ritual spell to summon him. If anything, your deck is actually **worse** than Ryoga's and Mousse's." This comment shocked Ranma and earned a sneer at him from Ryoga and Mousse.

"I wanted to go with an Anything Goes deck that takes a bit from everything!" Ranma responded in defense.

"You know, I have a good 30 minutes before I have to continue training," Jaden said, an idea forming. "So what do say we head to the card shop so we can build champion decks for you three?"

The three martial artist turned to each other and grinned. They were going to get decks made by the duelist champion himself! It was like learning Kung Fu from Bruce Lee! They nodded in agreement, tossed out the scraps of their lunches, and left the table.

"By the way," Jaden asked, "how are Shampoo and Akane doing with learning Duel Monsters?"

"Their doing pretty well," Ranma said. "They even dueled against that one Hassleberry kid and won." This surprised Jaden, seeing how tough Hassleberry is.

"I heard that dad is learning from Pegasus right now, as well."

After a quick walk to the DA campus building, the four heroes found themselves at the card shop. Jaden rang a bell on the counter and a familiar purple-haired Amazon popped out.

"Nihao, Ranma!" Shampoo cheered, glomping the curse victim. She was wearing the card shop employee uniform, hat and everything.

"Shampoo, you work at the card shop?" Jaden inquired. Shampoo turned and noticed the other three. She then proceeded to glomp Jaden!

"Nihao, Jaden!" she cheered in a similar way as to Ranma. Ranma, Ryoga, and Mousse were shocked to say the least, while Jaden had a look of dread.

"So, care to explain?" Ryoga asked with a sly smile, while Mousse, on fire and full of rage, took a few weapons out of his sleeves and added, "Answer carefully." Jaden sighed as he recounted that fateful afternoon...


	8. Chapter 8

Ha ha! Still around and writing up a storm! Now, the much anticipated though drawn out rather too long (working on that) continuation!

Chapter 8: "Clash of the Lovebirds: Mousse vs. Jaden vs. Ranma"

_*Flashback__*_

_It was a bright and sunny morning on Duel Academy Island. The birds were chirping, the sun was shining, the waves were crashing upon the beach, and other generic morning stuff was happening. Happosai was teaching me how to dodge properly. Unfortunately, my training today involved flaming arrows, needle beds, and a large bag of salt. Apparently, he thought yesterday's dodge ball bazooka-dodging training was too soft. _

_Happosai decided that it was time for a break, so he dashed off. Around the same time, near the Slifer Red dorm, Shampoo was walking by, carrying a bowl of ramen. (Tee hee hee.) _

"_Once Shampoo give ramen to Ranma, he have to fall in love with Shampoo! It also help that I add secret Amazon love potion to noodles," she said, holding up the packet of Amazonian love potion. But just as she tore open the package, and was about to pour it in, Happosai snuck up behind her, swiped the ramen, and guzzled it down._

"_Delicious, Shampoo-chan!" He said, as he dashed off once again. _

_According to Ranma, if there's one thing Amazonian women are good at, it's channeling sadness, shock, and disappointment into concentrated and unbridled fury. Crushing the remaining ramen bowl with her bare hand, she took off after Happosai._

_By the time she caught up, Happosai had resumed training me. Sensing the approaching aura of madness and bloodlust, accompanied with "Happosai, die!", Happosai yelled, _

"_Jaden, defend your master!"_

_And before I could react, he tossed me headfirst at Shampoo. Catching her off guard, I accidently head-butted her and knocked the both of us out. _

_When I came to, I saw Shampoo lying unconscious and rushed over to help her. When she awoke, I apologized, but was answered in the strangest of ways: she gave me a near bone-crushing hug and squealed, "Aiyah! Now Shampoo have two strong husbands!"_

_After explaining how defeating an Amazonian engages a man to her, Happosai started cursing his own luck at not defeating Shampoo on his own while I sat there dumbfound. It was like dealing with a second Tanya, and Obelisk knows I didn't need that twice! All I could mutter was, "Alexis is gonna kill me."_

*Flashback end*

"Well," Ranma started, but was interrupted by Mousse as he lunged at Jaden, weapons in hand. Luckily, Ryoga reacted fast enough to hold back Mousse and pull him away from a startled Jaden.

"NO! NOOO!" the duck boy roared, waving the scabbard he almost attacked Jaden with frantically in the air. "First Ranma, now the Kuriboh-head?! I refuse to accept it!" Pointing menacingly at Jaden, he roared, "Tomorrow! High noon! The field in front of the Red Dorm! You too, Ranma! We settle who the best husband for Shampoo is once and for all!"

Before anyone could object, Mousse pulled a smoke bomb out of his sleeve and tossed it at the ground, causing everyone to erupt into fits of coughing as he escaped. As the smoke cleared, all that remained of him was the echo of maniacal laughter.

"Well *cough* Jaden," Ranma said as he recovered, "it seems that you have your first official challenge. Congrats." Jaden was less than amused.

"How am I supposed to deal with Mousse?" he demanded. "The guy's a master martial artist and has weapons coming out the wa-zoo! I don't stand a chance!"

"He has a point," Ryoga agreed. "Plus we need him if we're gonna stop the DDS. Mousse'll turn him into a stain on the pavement before he remembers that, and there's no way to convince him of abandoning this fight. Jaden's doomed, so we're all doomed."

"Not necessarily," Ranma answered with a sly look in his eye. "Jaden, I'll make you a deal. If you craft a champion deck for me, I'll teach you the moves I used to beat Mousse. Deal?"

"Ranma, you can't be serious," Ryoga sighed. He started walking away, not wanting to be part of this mess. Jaden looked just as unconvinced.

"I could barely survive Happosai's training," he questioned. "What makes you think I can be ready to fight after just one day?"

"Cause you'll have me as a teacher," Ranma said grinning.

"Ranma! Jaden! Come out, where ever you are!" Happosai yelled as he leapt through the halls of the Academy, carrying behind him a sack filled with various torture devices for Jaden's training to continue. Unbeknownst to him, however, Jaden and Ranma foresaw this and hid upon the roof, covering all tracks and asking their friends to distract when necessary.

"Ready?" Ranma asked Jaden, taking a fighting stance.

"As I'll ever be," Jaden replied moodily, mimicking Ranma's form as best he could. Ranma rushed forward to deliver a punch to Jaden's face, but was blocked.

"Heh, at least the old fiend managed to beat some reactions into you. First rule of Saotome _True _Anything Goes Martial Arts: no matter what, get in the first hit. Do what you can to throw the first punch so you can get your opponent on the defensive."

"I thought people were only supposed to use this stuff if someone else threw the first punch," Jaden questioned, innocently. Ranma smirked as he gave his response.

"In martial arts, getting the first hit can mean the difference between victory and defeat, sort of like getting the first turn in Duel Monsters. If you don't go in giving everything you got, you won't last a minute." Ranma then leapt back and retook his stance.

"Next," he continued, reaching into his sleeves, "I'm gonna see just how well you dodge."

Jaden had no worries. Being forced to dodge bazooka-launched balls of red, rubbery death by Happosai had him ready for any punch Ranma could throw at him. Before he could blink, however, Ranma was already closing the distance between the two, arm reared back and ready. Utilizing the leg strength gained from running around the island, Jaden was quick to dodge to the left just as Ranma's fist grazed him.

Changing direction, Ranma repeated the move and Jaden dodged again, continuing this pattern until returning to their previous positions.

"Ha! This is the best the great master Ranma can teach?" Jaden mocked. But Ranma simply chuckled as he raised his fist, quickly pulling it back as if to throw another punch. However, as he did so, Jaden's limbs quickly snapped together, his arms bound to his sides and legs unmoving.

"What the?!" Jaden cried in astonishment, while Ranma opened his pulled-back hand to reveal a cluster of long, nearly invisible strings connecting to the ones that bound Jaden.

"I hid these narrow wires inside of my sleeves and attached some to you with every punch I threw. How's that for 'the great master'?"

"No fair! That was a dirty trick!"

Ranma sighed as he answered, "And that's just how Mousse will fight in your match tomorrow," Ranma released his grip, letting the strings loosen and freeing Jaden, "so you need to learn how to notice every trick Mousse sets before he can spring them on you.

"Your final lesson is this: finding your enemy's weak-point and using it to your advantage. For example, I exploit Ryoga's temper by taunting him in our fights because rage throws one off. He gets careless and ends up having his strength turned against him, so anger is his weak-point."

"Oh, I get it," Jaden pondered, "just like how Akane is your weak-point, right?"

"What's that supposed to mean?!" Ranma yelled defensively.

"Nothing, nothing at all," Jaden replied, smiling slyly.

"Cause it's not like I like her or anything. We're just friends, got it?" Ranma countered, noticeably flustered and in denial.

"Of course, of course," Jaden shrugged, silently proud that he was already getting the hang of using his opponent's weak-point against them.

"Anyway," Ranma continued, calming back down, "if you want to defeat Mousse, you have to use his weakness to your advantage. I'm sure you've noticed by now, but he's not exactly big in the seeing department."

"Yeah, I got that impression when he glomped a cactus he claimed was Shampoo."

"Without his glasses, he couldn't hit the broad side of a barn with a wrecking ball. Use this against him, and victory is all but assured."

"Yes, sensei Ranma," Jaden bowed.

Ranma took a new stance as he said, "Now, we continue."

Later that evening, in the Red Dorm, Ranma and Jaden continued learning, only now with the roles reversed.

"Now remember, the major part of this combo lies in when you activate this trap card," Jaden lectured, "not before the Battle Phase, but right when it begins."

"Geez," Ranma commented, looking perplexed at the card he held, "you sure know a lot about this game. How come you stay here in the Slifer Dorm? I heard it was losers."

"I just like the color red," Jaden responded as he shrugged his shoulders. "Besides, dueling has nothing to do with what you wear or where you live. I've beaten my fair share of Blues and Yellows, and I didn't have a fancy room or buffet."

"But it wouldn't hurt, right?" Ranma joked, making the pair laugh.

"Ranma! I know you're hiding Jaden, his little friend sold you out!" Happosai yelled as he hopped down the trail to the Red Dorm, dragging a tied up Chazz behind him.

"Ow! Let me go, you old goblin!" he demanded as he was dragged over rocks and twigs lining the trail. "I'm too rich to be treated this way!"

"Quiet, you! Jaden, you have hell to pay for skipping out on training to play with your friends, and I'll make sure you pay in full!" Happosai hopped up the steps of the building to Jaden's room, then tossed a firecracker at the door, blowing it off its hinges as he intruded.

"Now I've got- Hm?" The room was empty, save for a few stray cards on the floor. Happosai picked them up and growled as he turned back to the tied up Chazz.

"You lied to me, you brat!" the goblin roared as he repeatedly hit the boy over the head with his pipe.

"Ow! Ow! No I did not! Ow! Jaden said to keep an eye out for you so you wouldn't find him here! OW! Stop that!"

"Come on!" Happosai sneered as he dragged the Red in black clothing away with him. "If Jaden's not gonna learn how to fight, it's up to me to save the world! You're gonna teach me how to play this game so I can be the new hero! We'll call the show 'Hap-Po-Sai GX!'"

As the sounds of Chazz yelling at the old man faded, Jaden and Ranma crawled out of the shadows on the roof, relieved that Happosai wouldn't be bothering them anymore, now that he found a new source of entertainment.

"I feel sorry for Chazz," Jaden admitted, "but still, better him than me."

"Well, at least we can go back to practicing. There's this one combo I want to try-"

"Darlings!" Shampoo cried happily upon finding her beloveds and glomping them.

"Tomorrow better come soon," Jaden coughed out, his ribs being crushed under the force of the Amazonian bear hug.

At last, the day of the fight had reached high noon, as the three fighters stood in the open field in front of the Silfer dorm, a crowd of onlookers present and growing. A few notable spectators included Akane, Shampoo, Genma, Pegasus, and Ryoga, despite his claim of not wanting to be involved.

"So why are they doing this again?" Akane asked deadpanned.

"Aiyah!" Shampoo cheered happily, "Ranma and Jaden now fight to see who love Shampoo most! Is so romantic!"

"So why are they _really _doing this again?" Akane asked Ryoga, earning a look of hatred from Shampoo and a cough sounding like "Jealous".

"Cause Mousse is a jealous idiot and Jaden suffers from the same 'wrong place, wrong time' syndrome Ranma has," Ryoga replied as dejectedly as Akane.

"Aah," everyone other than Shampoo collectively said in understanding.

"Ranma! Jaden!" Mousse pointed towards the two with both arms. "The time for battle has come! Now, we fight to the death for the lovely Shampoo!"

"So Ranma, did you practice that combo I taught you last night?" Jaden asked the pig-tailed warrior, ignore Mousse's ramblings of "love" and "destiny".

"Yeah, but I'm a bit concerned about after I activate the Spell-Trap part," Ranma conversed with the duelist, also paying no attention to the weapons-user. "What if they use Magic Jammer or something first, then the whole strategy goes straight to-"

"Now die!" Mousse yelled, apparently done with his speech and charging towards Jaden with a sword drawn from his sleeve. Jaden, not missing a beat, ducked under the lunge and delivered an uppercut. The blow connected with Mousse's jaw and sent him stumbling backwards as Jaden took a stance. Ranma used this opportunity to rush forward and kick the sword out of Mousse's hand, the blade flying through the air before sheathing itself in the ground in front of a now startled Genma.

Regaining his senses, Mousse leapt a few feet away from Ranma and drew a chain sickle from his robe, swinging the weapon expertly before tossing it towards Ranma. He sidestepped out of the way before grabbing the chain and wrapping it around his fist. With a hard tug, he pulled Mousse off his feet and flung him towards Jaden, who leapt into the air.

Jaden delivered a sharp drop kick to the stunned martial artist, hitting him square in the ribs and giving a finishing blow, or so he thought. Suddenly, a sharp pain tore through Jaden's extended leg, as Mousse had actually caught the attack with his free hand, tacks hidden between the fingers and now embedded in Jaden's thigh. The glasses-wearer let him fall to the ground, clutching his leg as it started to numb.

"My own brand of paralysis poison," Mousse gloated, catching a punch from Ranma and tacking him too. "Non-lethal, but soon it'll spread through the rest of your lower body and leave you without a leg to stand on, so to speak." Ranma could already feel his arm grow heavier as well, while Jaden managed to stand tall and take a new stance.

"That's so underhanded!" Akane shouted in shock, while Ryoga and Genma were struggling to hold back a furious Shampoo.

"Then we'll just have to kick your ass sooner," Ranma taunted as he threw out a punch with his good arm. Mousse dropped the sickle and tacks as he pulled a small ball from his sleeve, throwing it to the ground and releasing a smoke cloud. Ranma and Jaden pulled themselves from the smokescreen and searched frantically for Mousse. Dragging this fight out in their current state would not end well.

Suddenly, an arrow pierced the ground behind Ranma, who looked up to see Mousse in a nearby tree, a crossbow partially hidden in his sleeve.

"Seriously, how does he hide all this stuff in his sleeves?!" Jaden yelled frustrated, as he bent over backwards to dodge another arrow. "And I'm betting these are poison-tipped, too."

"All fair in love and war to him," Ranma clarified, "and for Mousse, the two are really interchangeable. We have a problem, Jaden. My arm has completely turned to stone and the other is starting to follow."

"Same with my legs," Jaden returned, falling to one knee. "Whatever Mousse put in those tacks, it's speeding up."

"_Tacks…that's it_!" Ranma thought. "Jaden, I have a plan. Wanna give the bad doctor a taste of his own medicine?"

Mousse was too busy reloading his crossbow to hear the two scheming, choosing to double the amount of paralysis poison to end the fight sooner.

Ranma, rushing recklessly towards the tree, used the last of the strength in his right arm to punch the tree, shocking Mousse out of his tree. He landed on his feet, however, and aimed his arrow at the now charging Ranma, ready to shoot and end their fighting, when he heard something.

"Hey! Shampoo, no! Stop, quit it! That tickles!" Jaden shouted out, confusing the onlookers as Shampoo was still being restrained. However, what mattered was that Mousse had turned towards Jaden to see what was going on, only to receive a shoe to the face, knocking off his glasses and essentially blinding him.

"How's that for a dirty trick?" the now-single-shoed Jaden smirked as Mousse turned back to Ranma too late. Ranma shoved him to the ground with a full body tackle, scattering the arrows and crossbow. Mousse, back still to the ground, winced, but started to pull another weapon from his robes.

But as he tried to pull himself up, he found he could not move, wincing again as he felt numerous small stabs on his back. When he tried to roll over and look, it was clear that he had landed on his own haphazardly scattered poisoned tacks! He struggled to stand and continue, but the more he tried, the harder and heavier his body grew, until he was helpless as Ranma loomed over him, grinning wickedly.

"Uh, no hard feelings, right?" Mousse sweat dropped, just before blacking out as Ranma landed a strong drop kick to the duck boy's abdomen.

"Hey, Jaden!" Ranma called over to the other fighter. "Mousse is out cold! You want to finish this fight? We still need to decide who's stuck with Shampoo!"

"Naw, I'm beat!" the Slifer shouted back, sprawling out on the battlefield. "Can't move my legs an inch, now, so I'm done! You win, she's all yours!"

"Oh, lucky, lucky me," Ranma grumbled as the crowd erupted into cheers for the winner, although Ryoga and Akane were still as apathetic as before.

"Truly Ranma remains unmatched in underhanded fighting," Akane chuckled tiredly.

"It's not exactly a victory you'd be proud of," Ryoga added with the same drained expression.

"That's my boy!" Genma laughed as Shampoo rushed past Jaden and Mousse, then turned around, leapt on top of Mousse's face a few times, and then ran back to her beloved.

"Darling!" she cooed, hugging the paralyzed Ranma in a death grip. "Husband know Shampoo faithful to him all along, right? Shampoo had no feelings for Jaden what-so-ever, yes?"

"Of course you didn't," Ranma choked out sarcastically, "like I could be that lucky."

"Ranma!" Akane roared as she pulled the two apart angrily.

"Oh, come on, Akane! Like I could have kept her from hugging me. My arms aren't working!"

"Fine," Akane groaned as she dropped Ranma, calming down a bit as her burning anger cooled into a warm simmer, "but I not going to be so easy next time. We better get you three idiots to the infirmary and see what we can do about that paralysis junk."

Genma, Ryoga, and Akane worked together to hoist the trio up and carry them off back to the school with the rest of the crowd, ready to continue their training after some R & R.

Unbeknownst, however, peering through a telescope atop the island's semi-dormant volcano, a dark green goblin in special optic goggles and gray camouflage had been watching the entire fight, while the rest of his squad, each identical to one another in their matching uniforms, had recorded all the data with their equipment.

The head goblin in the fancy specs attached a small com-link device to his ear and spoke into an attached microphone.

"Dark Goblin Surveillance Platoon calling the Feared Four, over. Data on unknown fighters being transferred to your location. Mission completed, requesting pick up, over."

"_Affirmative, Green Leader,_" a gruff voice on the other end of the line scratched. "_Standby for pick up in 1700 hours, soldier. In the mean time, investigate the dueling strategies of the enemy so we may create counter measures."_

"Yessir!" The goblin saluted, and his platoon followed suit. "By 1700 hours, significant if not all data on enemy tactics will be gathered for processing, sir. We will await further or-"

"_Let me talk to him, a-Ha a-Ha!" _a new voice cackled over the link. "_Nuh-uh! It's my turn, chicken finguhs!"_

"Uh, sir?" the goblin asked quizzically.

"_Both of you idiots shut up!" _the first voice yelled at the other two, effectively silencing them both. "_Excuse that previous outburst, soldier. See you at 1700, over and out." _The line went dead, and the platoon leader was left to bring his giggling squad back to order. Each member of the recon squad admired their commander for his strength and tactical genius, but no goblin could understand why a DDS like him would put up with such fools as the other three members of the Feared Four.


End file.
